Law Times

Page 10 December 12, 2016 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Innocence Canada has issued layoff notices, moving location Woes for organization dedicated to wrongfully convicted BY GABRIELLE GIRODAY Law Times A non-profit organiza- tion famed for its fight on behalf of the wrong- fully convicted has is- sued layoff notices to staff after citing financial woes. Lawyers across Canada have been involved with Innocence Canada — formerly known as the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted — in its work to exonerate people found guilty of crimes they did not commit. The organization has run into funding issues, and has now stopped taking applications from people seeking help. "The justice system will be weakened by this, it's inevitable," says Debbie Oakley, Innocence Canada's executive director. The organization is well known in part for work by the late Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 19 years in the United States and who was the organization's executive director for more than a decade. It has helped with the exon- erations of 21 people, including Guy Paul Morin, David Mil- gaard and Thomas Sophonow, and has operated since 1993. "When we're running full tilt, and when we're well funded, we're in a position to review more convictions and devote more re- sources to exonerating the inno- cent," says Russell Silverstein, a criminal defence lawyer who is co-president of the organization. As of September 2015, In- nocence Canada's board began looking at declining revenue and anticipated that, if there were no shifts in funding by September 2016, dramatic changes would have to occur. In September 2016, the board decided to begin negotiations with the landlord to sub-lease the organization's Peter Street office and to give working notice to five staff members. Innocence Can- ada also decided to stop taking new applications from people seeking assistance — a move the organization's executive director Debbie Oakley says is "perhaps the most significant decision." "With shrinking resources and shrinking staff capacity, we did not think it was fair or prudent . . . to take on cases we wouldn't get to for possibly six, seven, eight years from now, so we've stopped taking any more," says Oakley. Innocence Canada received more than 40 applications for help in 2014 and 2015, 29 in 2013 and 24 in 2012. It focuses only on homicides. Oakley says there are still 85 cases the organization is han- dling that are under review, in- cluding 16 where they believe innocence has been established. "We're the only organization in Canada who does this work, in this way. There are some in- nocence projects at universities, but not following it all the way through to a 696 application to the minister," says Oakley, refer- ring to an application for minis- terial review on the grounds of miscarriage of justice. "Once you think you've got that established, there is a still a lot of work to be done before the 696 application to the Minister of Justice is in Ottawa, on the desk of the criminal convictions review group," says Oakley. "[I]t could take three or four years to even sort out those 16 cases, and then we have 69 oth- er cases that are under review where private investigators are completing work or forensic pathology testing is being done or any one of a number of ways that we go about confirming in- nocence, because we don't send an application unless we believe we've established innocence." Lawyers from across the country participate in pro bono work for the organization, says Oakley, with an estimated $3.5 million worth of work taking place annually. "We have about 55 lawyers across Canada who work on the cases for free, and I think they'll continue to do that, and we cer- tainly have lots of work," says Oakley. Silverstein says legal educa- tion is also an important part of the organization's mandate. "A lot of our budget is de- voted to community outreach and speaking to police officers, speaking to Crowns and trying to prevent wrongful convictions, so if we cease to operate or op- erate with fewer resources, on a smaller scale, then that legal edu- cation is going to suffer," he says. The organization was oper- ating with an average of about $580,000 per year over the last eight years. It's estimated that, as of 2017, it will be operating with about $280,000 per year. The organization receives $230,000 in annual funding from the Law Foundation of Ontario. Legal Aid Ontario has also contributed about $50,000 per year, after a two-year funding agreement was announced in 2015, and that's expected to con- tinue for another year. The or- ganization received a $1-million donation from retired Ontario Superior Court judge Ian Cart- wright in 2009. A decision will be made in March 2017 about what the new organization will look like, based on revenue available. "I can't tell you exactly what it's going to look like when it's changed, but it won't be as large, it won't be the five staff," says Oakley. The goal is for the organi- zation to move from the Peter Street office by spring 2017. "We're looking high and low for money. "We've gone to the federal government, we've approached the provincial government, we continue to look for charitable donations," says Silverstein. "We have a crisis and we need money from somewhere . . . not just gifts here and there, although we appreciate them. We're really interested in getting some ongoing funding from the government," he says. A spokeswoman for Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi and spokespeople for federal Attorney General Jody Wilson- Raybould did not respond to a request for comment. Regardless, Oakley says the fight isn't over. "We're worried, but it's an optimistic group of people," says Oakley. LT FOCUS Russell Silverstein says a search is underway to find additional funding for Innocence Canada. www.twitter.com/lawtimes Follow on © 2016 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00241NI-A84575-NK Know how to make effective summary judgment motions in civil and family cases Order # 987335-65203 $114 Softcover approx. 400 pages November 2016 978-0-7798-7335-7 Annual volumes supplied on standing order subscription Multiple copy discounts available Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 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